Be of good cheer
I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our Island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone. At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do. That is the resolve of His Majesty’s Government-every man of them. That is the will of Parliament and the nation. The British Empire and the French Republic, linked together in their cause and in their need, will defend to the death their native soil, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength. Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.
–Winston Churchill, June 4, 1940, during Britain’s darkest hour
Today, October 7, 2008, is a dark hour for conservatives. Polls consistently show Obama holding a lead against McCain; yesterday’s debate was not a winner for McCain, so we consider it a loser; and we face a monolithic media with tentacles in every facet of American life that is declaring the race over and telling us to go home. I feel floating over myself, and I read in blogs and emails, a sense of despair that it’s over, that nothing can be done to keep America from shifting irrevocably to a cold, ugly Leftism that will rob us of our exceptionalism and drag us into the dreary statist fold.
To which I have this to say: Get over it! Stop letting the subtle meld of information and disinformation get you down. It ain’t over ’til it’s over. Twenty-nine days is a lifetime in modern politics. We must go on to the end, we must fight them in the newspapers, we must fight them on the internet, we must fight them on the radio, we must fight them at community rallies, and, most importantly, we must fight them at the voting booths. We cannot surrender. If we give up now, we deserve to lose. We will carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, or on November 4, a revitalized conservatism steps forth to rescue and liberate American politics.
